Cornell Plantations

Seeking inspiration and an outing for my family, we found both at the Cornell Plantations--an incredible spread of botanical gardens, arboretum (150 acres) and natural areas (4,300 acres of trails and ecological conservatories). I took the kids and my in-laws for a mini hike in the natural areas and through the arboretum. It was so impressive, I am adding it to my list of things that give me hope:

The List
1. We elected Obama
2. Good Samaritans (my favorite: last summer, trying to get out of the Tanglewood parking lot late at night, after fireworks and James Taylor concert, 8 men in country club garb stopped to help push our massive rental SUV out of the mud--they sunk down to their ankles and while I hit the gas and splattered mud all over them, they kept rockin and pushin that beast of a vehicle until it was on solid ground--leather loafers and white linen be damned!)
3. Cornell Plantations

You can see my list is short, which is why my goal for the year here is to restore my faith in humanity. No pressure on my Ithaca followers, but it feels really good to be living in a place where people not only know about the mass of plastic bottles the size of the United States floating around in the ocean, but they are actually doing something about it. And even though it's embarrassing, I am relieved when people stop and stare at me on those days I drink from a plastic water bottle or tote my groceries home in a non-green bag.

Cayuga Nature Center

The good part of living so close to all of this nature is the hiking...streams, wild flowers, moss-covered logs, majestic trees...The boys love it, too, which makes my heart soar. The only tricky part is navigating the trails with my New Yorker husband. "Is that poison ivy?" "Should we do a tick check?" "My GPS says we are heading in the wrong direction." No one will get hurt, lost or suffer any discomforts on his watch. I, on the other hand, think scratchy legs and getting lost in the woods are a right of passage...so, stay tuned. This is only hike #2 of about 50 I plan to do this summer, with or without our very well-educated bodyguard.

Cascadilla Gorge

Can you believe this is only 2 miles from us? Cascadilla Gorge is in the middle of downtown Ithaca, running through Cornell's College Town. Despite being surrounded by roads and buildings, it still has something of a wild feel due to the depth and steepness of the gorge. There is a well maintained trail through the gorge, which students use as a shortcut to campus. We hiked the little stretch from Linn Street to College Ave...